The day is finally upon us. After a disappointing summer for our nation’s respective football teams in the Euro’s and the Olympics, the opening of the new season couldn’t come soon enough. For Arsenal, the season starts with a home tie against a tricky Sunderland team who are more than capable of pulling off an upset.
Head to Head
It is hard to judge the first game of the season, with both teams fielding new players. In the 2011/12 season Arsenal beat Sunderland 2-1 both home and away, with a certain Mr Henry grabbing the winner in the final minutes at the Stadium of Light after Sunderland took the lead. Sunderland did manage to grab a 2-0 win at the Emirates last year in the FA cup though.
Although pre-season games aren’t a great representation of a team’s ability, Arsenal come into the game on better form. After new signing Lukas Podolski bagged two goals against his former club FC. Koln in a 4-0 win, spirits are high in the Gunners camp. Sunderland on the other hand come into the game without a win in three, after losses to Hartlepool and Leicester and a draw with Derby finished off a disappointing pre-season.
Team News
Arsenal have had a busy transfer window thus far, taking in Santi Cazorla, Lukas Podolski and Olivier Giroud. It is players leaving that have grabbed the headlines though, most specifically former captain Robin Van Persie.
Van Persie has completed his move to United for a fee of 24 million which will shake Arsenal’s morale greatly pre match. This transfer saga has dragged on all transfer window, which seems to be a recurring problem for the Gunners, Fabregas and Nasri ring a bell? Alex Song is also involved in an on-going saga involving Barcelona.
Sunderland have bought in Carlos Cuellar on a free transfer, their only signing so far, in a window where there has been many departures, Asamoah Gyan, Michael Turner and George McCartney being the biggest names.
The main injury news pre-match is the still on-going injury to Jack Wilshere for the Gunners, who isn’t expected back until October, and also Sagna has not yet fully recovered from an injury gathered in May, with Coquelin or Jenkinson expected to cover. Sunderland is struggling at the back with Bardsley and Brown expected to be out.
Key Players
Thomas Vermaelen is expected to be the captain, this is key as it will be interesting to see how he handles the pressure of captaincy after the news of RVP’s departure. The new signings, especially Santi Cazorla who is expected to play a major role in the midfield throughout the season, are also key.
After a great pre-season, Gervinho is also expected to start and he, more than anyone, has a point to prove after criticism for his performances last year.
Sunderland’s key players will be Sebastian Larsson, who will be returning to his former club, who has become one of Sunderland’s top stars over the past few seasons. Connor Wickham and Ji Dong-Won will be battling it out for the centre forward role, now Bender has returned to the Gunners from his loan deal, and will be battling hard to cement their place in the squad and fill the vacant role.
Referee
Chris Foy has been appointed referee for the match, still fresh from officiating in the Olympics football tournament. Last season Chris Foy seemed to be a lucky omen for the Gunners, with them getting on average 2.63 points a game when he refereed, the highest of any club in the premiership for Foy. Hopefully this luck will carry on to the next season also.
Predicted Teams
Arsenal- Szczesny, Coquelin, Koscielny, Vermaelen, Gibbs, Song, Arteta, Cazorla, Podolski, Giroud, Gervinho
Sunderland- Mignolet, Richardson, O’Shea, Cuellar, Kilgallon, Cattermole, Gardner, McClean, Larsson, Sessegnon, Ji.
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